Poor mathematics performance in schools is both a national and an international concern. Teachers ought to be equipped with relevant subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge as one way to address this problem. However, no mathematics knowledge and practice standards have as yet been defined for the preparation of Foundation Phase…

The role parents can play in supporting early reading attainment is well documented. There is still, however, a need to understand what motivates parents to become involved in reading at home with their child. Past research, based upon correlational studies, has mixed findings regarding the influence of the teacher and the child on parents'…

An invitation to be part of a small research project with science teacher educators focusing on the Australian Curriculum--Science as a Human Endeavour strand provided an opportunity for professional learning in science for an early career teacher working with Year 1-2 students. This article explores how the use of students' photography of local…

Australian youth (5-17) are exhibiting the most alarming statistics surrounding poor physical activity (PA) levels and increasing correlating chronic disease trends (i.e. obesity). With schools well positioned to address such concerns, this study aimed to determine the type, frequency and intensity levels of PA being undertaken by children during…

"Fast ForWord"[R] is a computer-based reading program intended to help students develop and strengthen the cognitive skills necessary for successful reading and learning. The program, which is designed to be used 30-100 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 4-16 weeks, includes three series. The "Fast ForWord[R] Language" series…

Literate practice in the arts encompasses both aesthetics and creativity. It is also multimodal in nature and often collaborative. This article presents data collected from a small multi-age school, with children from Prep to Year 7, during their preparation for an end-of-year show. The children had studied the topics of conservation and…

One of the most significant influences on student engagement is the teacher's pedagogical practices, including the incorporation of technology into the teaching and learning of mathematics. This paper reports on a qualitative study investigating how the incorporation of iPads into a Year 3 primary classroom during a six month trial influenced…

This paper is based on qualitative research data from a project investigating early childhood boys' constructions of masculinities in relation to sport, health and the body. The focus group data, with 33 boys, has been collected in each of the boys' first three years at school. It is part of the data that will be collected over eight years with…

With deliberate system-level reform now being acted upon around the world, both successful and unsuccessful cases provide a rich source of knowledge from which we can learn to improve large-scale reform. Research surrounding the effectiveness of a theory-based system-wide numeracy reform operating in primary schools across Australia is examined to…

This article reports on the collaborative initiative of two primary school teachers who created and implemented innovative pedagogy in order to foster a culture of thinking in their classrooms. The paper outlines teaching strategies that were used with the intent of making students mindful of themselves as learners and thinkers. A…

"Fast ForWord"[R] is a computer-based reading program intended to help students develop and strengthen the cognitive skills necessary for successful reading and learning. The program, which is designed to be used 30 to 100 minutes a day, five days a week, for 4 to 16 weeks, includes two components. The first component aims to build…

This small scale qualitative study investigated teachers' and students' perceptions of praise and feedback in the classroom using structured interviews and classroom observation. A case study approach was used whereby students and teachers from one school participated. Some 56 students and five teachers were interviewed individually or in small…

The focus of this study will be on the intersection of the following domains: Second Language Acquisition research on cohesion and coherence, discourse acquisition of young children, the effect of text form-focused instruction on student non-fiction writing and the impact of schema theory on student decision-making during the writing process.